Justin Lin is getting into the driver’s seat for another car-based project. The Fast and Furious director has been set to steer Legendary’s Hot Wheels movie, based on the popular toy line from Mattel. Read More »

Rebels, star your engines! Hot Wheels has been pumping out Star Wars memorabilia for awhile now with an entire line devoted towards turning iconic characters and ships from the sci-fi saga into little vehicles. However, following their life-size Darth Vader car that was created last year, the Mattel brand has decided to create an even more incredible vehicle by turning an X-Wing into a full functional car, complete with blasters, jet engines and a working cockpit door.

If you grew up in the past half century, then your childhood was probably filled with toys made by Mattel. My childhood was filled with a ton of He-Man figures and those M.U.S.C.L.E.minis could be found all over my room. I always wanted the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and a Mattel Overboard from Back to the Future Part II and childhood me would probably be shocked at which one of those officially released Mattel products future-Peter ended up owning.

A new art show will be opening up at Gallery 1988 next week called Mattel: A Tribute To 70 Years Of Toys. The show, curated by artist Dave Perillo, is a small group show that features different artists take on some of Mattel Brand most iconic toys from over the past 70 years. Hit the jump to find out more, see some artwork from the show, and learn what great artists (such as Dave Perillo and Tom Whallen — yes, thats his kick-ass Masters of the Universe piece above) are involved.

When this week began, the only specific movie scheduled for the far-off month of November 2016 was Fox’s animated Trolls adaptation. There was also, however, an untitled Disney animated film set to arrive that month. Then Warner Bros. added the Harry Potter spinoff, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, to the mix on November 18, 2016. Now Legendary Pictures is getting in on the fun. The company has just dated an “Untitled 2016 Event Project” for November 4, 2016. What could it be? We’ll offer two options and speculation below. Read More »

Universal has the Fast and Furious films, DreamWorks now has the Need for Speed video game adaptation, and Legendary is working on a high-octane film version of Hot Wheels. And by “film version of” I mean “movie branded with the same name” as there’s clearly no story to adapt from a long-running brand of little toy cars. But the name can be everything.

Now Simon Crane, who cut his teeth as a stunt guy and second unit director before starting to look at directing features, has been set to direct. Art Marcum and Matt Holloway wrote one draft, and now Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasco, Quiz Show, Homicide, the potential Scarface remake) will rewrite. No word on plot or story yet, but presumably there will be cars going so fast that their wheels become “hot.”

Since Legendary and Universal now have a deal, that means Uni could end up with two racing film series. But the studio could always pass, and let Legendary take Hot Wheels elsewhere, if it decides that’s the best move. [Deadline]

In the realm of toys and games that are being adapted into movies – Stretch Armstrong, Clue, Monopoly, Battleship, etc. – Hot Wheels seems like a no-brainer. (There’s even something that is basically a Hot Wheels nod in Green Lantern.) With the Fast and Furious films continually raking in the dough, any producer would be remiss not to take the well-known toy car brand and develop it into a big time action movie. In actuality, Hollywood has been attempting to do so for almost a decade but nothing has clicked. The latest company to jump into the driver’s seat is Legendary, who is currently negotiating with Mattel to acquire the brand to make a fast-paced blockbuster. Read More »